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Totally weird news

The economic news has been so bleak and disturbing this week, I thought you could use a comedic break. I collect totally weird news stories the way some women collect jewelry. Here are a few:

Gas pump malfunction sells premium for 38 cents

SAN ANTONIO (AP) – Gas prices have been falling – but not that much. A problem with a pump cost a San Antonio convenience store when premium gasoline accidentally sold for 38 cents a gallon. Manager Jim Duke at a Dill Food Market says that grade of gas was supposed to be selling for $3.89 a gallon.

Duke says the “pump malfunction” involving a misplaced decimal point was fixed by Wednesday afternoon. (He wondered why traffic was beginning to line up.)

Duke said he noticed a lot of vehicles were being filled with premium and people were paying at the pump. He went out to check Wednesday and noticed the price error.

Duke said the independent gas station lost a lot of money. Just how much is still being tallied.

Woman misunderstands, goes down baggage chute

(This would be my luck since I tend to talk instead of listening)

STOCKHOLM (AFP) – An elderly woman misunderstood instructions while checking in at Sweden’s main airport and was whisked down a baggage shoot after she placed herself instead of her luggage on the belt, media reported Wednesday.

The 78-year old woman was preparing to fly from Stockholm’s Arlanda airport to Germany on Tuesday when she lay down on an unmanned baggage belt in the belief she was following check-in instructions. She4 was quickly swept off the baggage handling centre, where staff members helped get her back on her feet.

The woman suffered no serious injury and caught her flight as planned

No buyers for man’s million-mile Chevy – yet

CATAWBA, Wis. (AP) – A 1991 Chevrolet Silverado that has traveled more than 1 million miles is still on the market, its owner says, though it failed to fetch the premium price that he had hoped for.

Frank Oresnik said he failed to sell the 1991 truck during a 10-day auction on eBay that ended Sunday. He had placed a minimum bid of $30,000, and said all he got was a couple of feelers. But he’s not giving up.

The 58-year-old Oresnik said he is going to put the truck back on eBay later this week with no minimum bid.

Oresnik bought the truck 12 years ago when it had 41,000 miles. He used the vehicle to deliver seafood in three states, putting on about 85,000 miles a year.

When the odometer hit a million miles earlier this year, on a road near Fond du Lac, the feat brought him national attention.

Over the years, the truck has had four radiators, three gas tanks and six water pumps, but the engine is still original. He practiced such car-friendly techniques as always letting the engine warm up first, even in summer, according to the Web site .http://www.roadsbridges.com

Upside down rainbow stumps viewers

The “smiling” band of brilliant colors is known as a circumzenithal arc. It occurs when sunlight bounces off ice crystals high in the atmosphere, sending the light rays back up towards the sky. This one was photographed in Cambridge, England.

It differs from a normal rainbow where light penetrates raindrops and re-emerges on the other side heading towards earth, causing a drooping effect.

Upside down rainbows are rarely seen outside the polar regions and need a particular set of atmospheric conditions in order to occur. Dr Jacqueline Mitton, a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society who has written astronomy books for children, spotted the phenomenon near her home.

An English couple said a 10-inch gnome statue that disappeared from their home has returned with photos of his travels in 12 countries. Someone stole my two concrete dogs right out of my garden several years ago. I’m wondering if they’re touring the globe. I do wish the culprit would bring them back.

AARP is sued for age discrimination

The American Association of Retired Persons is being sued for the very action it guards against.

Bonita Brady, a 63-year-old from Michigan, says the group passed her over for a series of jobs because she was too old, despite excellent job reviews.

She joined AARP in Chicago in 1996 as a health representative. She also worked for AARP in Washington before moving to the Lansing office in 2007.